The study focuses on land use detection using radar backscatter intensity and coherence information derived from interferometric processing.ERS-1/2 Tandem Mission data and airborne DLR E-SAR data have been evaluated for these purposes. The study area is a catchment in theRheinische Schiefergebirge, Central Uplands, Germany. Results show that the introduction of coherence information improves the accuracy andfeasible class variability of land use classifications and point out that the ordinary pixel-based classification techniques are not well suited forthe extraction of SAR data information content.